Bad Meaning Good case study #1: 'Mother's Day'

Tuesday, October 13 2009

In April of 2009, myself and DJ Intel launched the 'Bad Meaning Good' monthly movie event at The Burlington in Chicago. The idea behind the night is to screen cult classics, exploit movies, unintentional comedies and every other kind of film we collectively decide is so bad that it's actually good. In the ongoing search for the perfect 'Bad Meaning Good' film I've decided to take on a weekly (or AT LEAST once-per-week) blog entry in which I'll review, summarize and rate bad movies of every variety imaginable. The goal is to reach somewhere in the range of 75-100 posts within a year, at which point I'll look for a place to publish a first volume of 'Bad Meaning Good' reviews in book form. Stay tuned...

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'Bad Meaning Good' case study #1:
'Mother's Day'

Summary:
The 1980 film 'Mother's Day' was directed by Charles Kaufman, brother of Lloyd Kaufman (co-founder of Troma Entertainment), and is to this day one of the most popular and enduring films in the entire Troma catalog. The film is essentially an exploit/slasher hybrid that was released at the height of the slasher film's popularity. Interestingly enough, it was apparently filmed at the exact same time as the original 'Friday The 13th', directly across the infamous 'Crystal Lake'.

The movie takes many a page out of the proverbial handbook of a number of films that predated it, namely those of 'Deliverance' (1972), 'Last House On The Left' (1972), 'The Hills Have Eyes' (1977) and 'I Spit On Your Grave' (1978). Its story revolves around three female protagonists, each mutually long-time friends from college who meet for a yearly get together and weekend getaway that, in this instance, goes catastrophically wrong in every conceivable way.

Once we've met our trio of soon-to-be damsels-in-distress and have gathered that they are to trek out to the wilderness for a weekend of camping and R&R, it's simply a matter of time before things begin to get messy and sure enough, that's exactly what things do. The girls are quickly abducted by a pair of well-worn hillbilly stereotypes who, at the behest of their criminally insane mother, attempt to torture, rape and kill the women in that very order (with varying degrees of success). We all know that hillbillies (or in this case somewhat more accurately, mentally-incapacitated hillbillies) have never had the reputation of being master strategists though and the tables are quickly turned on the villains when two of the three girls escape from the dilapidated pigpen of a house they're being kept in and seek revenge for the rape and death of their friend (which they were forced to view in all its explicit detail).

It's a simple set-up really: The first half of the film establishes our heroines and sees them go through a series of excruciatingly repulsive sequences of abuses; the second half sees them fight back.

How 'Bad Meaning Good' is it?
The movie scores some serious laughs at around the midway point when the mother directs her boys through a backyard, military-styled workout regimen montage sequence to the tune of a hilariously bad "Rocky Theme" rip-off. The movie also features a shockingly effective final act surprise which alone lends the entire film some additional degrees of humor and creativity that I, to that point, didn't think it had in it.

Those familiar with the films of Troma know it goes without saying that the acting and overall production value is laughably bad from top to bottom. This is the kind of film where everyone involved in its production is TRYING to make a bad movie and succeeding in triumphant fashion. Additionally, like a number of Troma's other films, 'Mother's Day' is exceedingly unpleasant to look at. The whole thing has a sort of "aura" of filth that permeates its visual aesthetic. Whether with regard to the sets, the make-up and gore effects or the general "look" of it, the movie will likely make you feel repelled and nauseated on a number of different levels. It's just gross.

When a film deals with taboo-shattering subjects like rape and torture in an exploitative way, it always helps to have those involved in its production on the same page with regard to its intentions so as to avoid any ambiguous messages about the moral implications of what's taking place on the screen. With that in mind, the folks involved in this movie all seemed to have their tongues firmly planted in cheek and though rape is undoubtedly never pleasant to watch, it in this case comes with a sort of implied inevitability that the film's baddies will in time be on the receiving end of their due comeuppance. 'Mother's Day', in other words, makes it abundantly clear that it is above all other things a comedy first and foremost.

'Mother's Day' was in no way as groundbreaking or memorable as 'Last House On The Left'. It was however, far more entertaining than a film like 'I Spit On Your Grave' and nowhere near as mean-spirited or sadistic. Overall, fans of exploit genre films should find this one worthwhile.

'Bad Meaning Good'-O-Meter:
7.2/10

Tags: Bad Meaning Good, Bad Meaning Good Case Studies

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